The heavy steel wheels of the Spirit-Furnace Star-Train rumbled out of the glowing wormhole tunnel past World 22 and rolled straight into a wall of pitch-black frost.
Inside the lead command car, the brass stove was burning bright red, and a pot of jasmine tea was bubbling merrily on the iron grate. Yet the moment the train’s armored nose crossed the border into the Dark-Ice Sector, white rime crept across the double-thick crystal windows with a loud crunch-crunch-crunch.
Pei Xuan sat at his oak desk, holding a blue porcelain teacup in his hand. He blew gently on the rising steam and lifted the cup to his lips.
Clink.
Before the tea could touch his mouth, the boiling amber liquid turned into a solid yellow ice cube in three seconds flat. Even the white steam rising above the rim froze into tiny glass-like needles and dropped onto the desk with a sharp rattle.
Pei Xuan blinked. He turned the teacup upside down and tapped the bottom. The frozen tea block didn’t even budge.
“Well,” Pei Xuan said, setting the cup down and rubbing his hands together. “That is a waste of good tea leaves. Su Suanpan, write down two copper coins under travel losses.”
